Second Contact Sequence - 1 (2019 Total Solar Eclipse)
In the last several seconds before the total eclipse begins, the crescent Sun breaks into a series of dazzlingly bright beads. They shrink and disappear as totality begins. When totality ends, the bright beads reappear along the edge of the Moon and quickly merge to become the crescent Sun.
The beads are formed by sunlight shinning through deep valleys along the irregular limb of the Moon. Francis Baily (Wikipedia) first described this effect after the annular eclipse of 1836. They are known as Baily's Beads in his honor.
The image above is a time sequence shot at 1 frame per second to capture the formation of Baily's Beads at second contact (i.e., as totality begins). The bright red arc along the edge of the Moon is the Sun's chromosphere (Wikipedia) (a thin layer that sits just above the solar photosphere). Several large solar prominences (Wikipedia) are also visible.
This image is available as a Custom Print.
Additional eclipse photos can be seen at: 2019 Total Solar Eclipse Photo Gallery.
For more information on this event, see: EclipseWise 2019 Total Solar Eclipse.
Technical Details
- Title: Second Contact Sequence - 1 (2019 Total Solar Eclipse)
- Date/Time: 2019 Jul 02 at 20:39 UTC
- Eclipse Circumstances: Altitude = 13°, Azimuth = 307°, HA = 3.88
- Location: Mamalluca Observatory, Vicuna, CHILE
- Mount: Orion AstroView German Equatorial Mount
- Telescope: Vixen 90mm Fluorite Refractor (90mm, f/9, fl=810 mm)
- Camera: Nikon D850
- Exposure: 1/1000 sec, f/9, ISO 250 at 1 frame per second
- File Name: TSE2019-2ndConSeq1w.jpg
- Processing (Adobe Camera Raw): Exposure Adjustment, Clarity, Sharpening, Noise Reduction
- Processing (Adobe Photoshop CC2019): Curves, Layers
- Rights: Copyright 2019 by Fred Espenak. All Rights Reserved. See: Image Licensing.
